Talk:Roger Cotes

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Hydrostatics and pneumatics

Cotes gave a lecture series on hydrostatics and pneumatics, a book of which was published after his death. It is available at the Internet Archive. I don't think there is anything very original in it, but it is a good intro to the subject as understood in his time, and shows evidence of careful experimentation and practical demonstration, unusual in universities at the time. Surely worth a mention.2A00:23C5:6487:4701:F871:7E12:BFBD:A0B6 (talk) 20:50, 12 June 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Principia

I just wanted to point out some possible improvements to this section:

1) "Newton at first had a casual approach to the revision, since he had all but given up scientific work.[citation needed] However, through the vigorous passion displayed by Cotes, Newton's scientific hunger was once again reignited.[citation needed]" ----> Cotes deserves much more credit for his contribution to the Principia, but this seems a bit over the top. Just a few years before, in 1706, Newton had published a new edition (the first Latin edition) of his Opticks. And there are mathematical papers by Newton that are attributed to this period (in The Mathematical Papers of Isaac Newton, vol. 8 (edited by Whiteside)). I would recommend leaving out the sentence: "since he had all but given up scientific work" and also: "through...Cotes, Newton's scientific hunger was once again reignited."

2) "The two spent nearly three and half years collaborating on the work, in which they fully deduce, from Newton's laws of motion, the theory of the moon, the equinoxes, and the orbits of comets." ------> This reads as if the second edition of the Principia should be read as a co-authership of Newton and Cotes and I think that gives a wrong impression. I cannot say anything specific about the working division of Newton and Cotes, in which the Correspondence of Isaac Newton, vol. 5 (edited by Hall & Tilling) could provide insight, but I think this might overrepresent Cotes' role.

3) "The first edition of Principia had only a few copies printed" ------> A few sounds like less than 30 or something, maybe this could be specified? According to the Newton Handbook (1986, Gjertsen, p. 470), circa 400 copies of the first edition were printed.

First time contributing, please let me know if this is not the correct route! --MelodiaQ (talk) 21:46, 9 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]